PRINCETON, N.J. - Seth Hinrichs matched his career-high with 27 points, but it was Princeton that came away with the 81-80 overtime victory on Wednesday night at Jadwin Gymnasium. Lafayette erased a nine-point deficit with a little more than four minutes to play in regulation to force overtime.

In the extra period, Will Barrett's trey with 3:12 remaining gave the Tigers (2-1) a five-point advantage and they never gave up the lead. After going up by five, the teams traded baskets before Hinrichs converted a three-point play to pull Lafayette within two with 2:18 left. A layup by Denton Koon (nine points) followed by Alan Flannigan's lay-in off a feed from Bryce Scott (12 points) set up the final minute with the Leopards down by two.

Koon was unable to get a layup to fall and Lafayette (0-3) the rebound before calling timeout. Out of the stoppage, Nick Lindner was fouled on his drive and made one-of-two at the line with 48 seconds to play. The Tigers ran down the shot clock and went to Koon and he missed again inside, but Barrett (22 points) was there to grab the miss. Koon made both free throws and Lindner sank two with eight seconds left. Koon was fouled again with four seconds on the clock and missed both at the line, but the rebound was knocked off of Lafayette and out of bounds with two seconds showing. Lindner intercepted the inbounds pass and sprinted up the floor, but was unable to get a shot off as time expired.

Lafayette raced out to a 20-13 lead on a transition layup by Scott off a feed from Hinrichs as the Leopards made seven of its first nine shot attempts, forcing a Princeton timeout at the 11:33 mark.

The Leopards extended their lead to nine (24-15) with a 9-2 stretch midway through the opening period, and went 10-of-12 to open the game. The run was started by a three-pointer from Nick Lindner and completed by a bucket from Hinrichs inside. Hinrichs poured in 12 of his 27 points before intermission.

Twelve of the next 18 points were scored by Princeton as the Tigers cut the deficit to three (30-27) on Barrett's trey. Barrett netted seven of his 12 first-half points during the stretch, before Lafayette made three consecutive field goals. The Leopards mini-surge was capped by a pull-up right-hander in the lane by Joey Ptasinski (11 points) and pushed the lead back to nine with three minutes to play before halftime.

Chris Clement's three-pointer in the corner on the next trip drew Princeton within six and Lafayette went into the locker room with a 36-31 lead after shooting 16-of-25 (64 percent) from the floor in the period.

A layup by Hans Brase (10 points) drew the Tigers within a basket (43-41) nearly six minutes into the second half before Princeton tied the game at 43 with two at the line by Koon. After Trist scored inside, Ben Hazel (14 points) buried a three to put Princeton ahead 46-45. Hazel scored Princeton's next eight points and Koon knocked down a foul-line jumper as the Tigers put together a 20-8 run before Lafayette called timeout.

Trailing 66-57 with 4:21 to play, Lafayette called timeout. Out of the stoppage Hinrichs rose up for a straightaway three and drilled it, drawing Lafayette within six.

Two at the line by Scott made it a three-point game, before Koon's deuce extended the lead back to five. The Leopards swung the ball around the arc before Scott drained a wing three to pull the Leopards within two. A baseline jumper was missed by Jimmy Sherburne before Lafayette drew up a play for Trist. After getting the ball in the paint, Trist's baby hook was good at tied the game at 68 apiece. After Princeton called timeout, Lafayette got a steal on the final possession and Scott's runner from just inside half court missed as the game went into overtime with the Leopards on an 11-2 run. Trist contributed 19 points and had a game-high nine rebounds.

Lafayette went 28-of-48 on the night (58.3 percent) and held a 30-28 edge on the glass, but turned the ball over 15 times in the loss. On the other side, Princeton was 28-of-62 from the field (45.2 percent), including 12-of-26 from three-point territory, and had nine turnovers.

Lafayette returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the team travels to NJIT. Opening tip from Newark, N.J. is set for 2 p.m.

Game Notes:

Princeton has taken the last five meetings between the two schools.

Ptasinski started his first game of the season at guard for Lafayette.

It was Lafayette's first overtime game since Nov. 12, 2012 when it beat LIU-Brooklyn 98-94.

Lafayette Athletics, as a partner in the mission of the
College, provides an incredibly effective learning experience for
student-athletes through competitive NCAA Division I athletics. Lafayette
sponsors 23 varsity sports with more than 600 student-athletes.